We’re making hate unprofitable by persuading advertisers to pull their support from publications that spread hate and division.

The Problem

History has shown us time and again the dangers of demonising foreigners and minorities

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2015

After what it called “decades of sustained and unrestrained anti-foreigner abuse, misinformation and distortion”, the United Nations has accused some British newspapers of “hate speech”. UK experts are now warning that hate crime is being “fuelled and legitimised” by the media. Relentlessly hostile and often inaccurate headlines have been described by charities as “dangerous”. But, indirectly, nearly all of us are funding them.

The Role of Advertisers

The overwhelming majority of people in the UK don’t buy The Sun, Daily Mail or Daily Express. Yet most of us probably do shop with a company that advertises in these newspapers.

Newspaper editors have a strong incentive to run sensationalist anti-migrant headlines: it boosts their readership – and that means they can earn more from advertising.

Many of these advertisers have strong ethical stances on other issues: on discrimination in the workplace, on their supply chains, on their role in their communities. But when it comes to choosing which publications they fund with their advertising budgets, their own ethics and values have often been ignored. Until now.

Ethical advertisers

There is now a growing list of companies that don’t advertise in the Sun, Daily Mail or Daily Express. For both print and online advertising, consumer pressure is working. Take a look at the list and if your favourite company isn’t on there, get in touch with them to ask why.